It’s Mothers Day and yes, as most children, I am thinking about my Mom today. Unfortunately, I can’t call her to tell her how much I love her, how she inspired me to be the best during my life. My Mother died ten years ago. Still, she’s never been forgotten by my sister or myself. We were given opportunities by both our parents that they never had. Neither of my parents ever went to college, but it was important, more-so from my Mother that both my sister and I attend and graduate and to go as far as we wanted educationally. Initially, for my sister, that meant a PhD in English Literature. She was, before her retirement, a Milton Scholar, yes, someone respected in her field. Who encouraged that? Mom.

Me? I wasn’t that excited attending college after high school. All I could think about was being on my own. But there was always the encouragement from, yes, Mom, to get that extra bit of education as that would eventually, at some point in life, pay off. Of course she was right. In fact, I can’t recall a time when she was ever really wrong. Neither of my parents were much on offering unasked-for advice. In fact, even if I asked for an opinion concerning a decision I was about to make, it was like pulling teeth to get any comment, one way or another, especially after adulthood. But even as a teenager, Mom would always ask, “Well, what is it you really want to do?”  Of course that would have me reconsider any decision I might make. Sometimes, I would find myself changing from my initial inclination. Sometimes, not.

There were those decisions I later regretted making, but for all of us, especially at a young age, it’s what parents call a “learning experience”. Not that Mom would’ve allowed me or my sister to make a decision that may be destructive in it’s outcome, but just those that could have been better thought out (like going to college!). So I sit here on this Sunday thinking about a person that had a profound, positive, effect on my life. Never hurtful, never in anger, even though I’m sure there were times I deserved both.

My Father passed two years before she did, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about both of them; But on my cellphone, even before my Father died, their number wasn’t listed as “Dad and Mom” or “Mom and Dad”. It was “Mom”. Who is it I called when something good happened in my life? Mom. When I maybe need to be consoled? Mom. In every part of my life, there she was. Even today, after the years that have passed, I will wonder: “What would Mom think about..?” concerning something in my life. I hope she taught me enough to know.

So today, in celebrating Mothers Day, remember what she did for you, how she helped shape the person you are today. You only have one. If you haven’t yet, call or visit her.